THE DEVIL'S MERCEDES : THE BIZARRE AND DISTURBING ADVENTURES OF HITLER'S LIMOUSINE IN AMERICA
by Robert Klara 

When it came to automobiles they had to be 100% German. For Hitler it was a given that whatever car he had would be a Mercedes. He was devoted to them. Luckily for him two huge German automakers would merge in 1926 and become Daimler-Benz AG. As for the name Mercedes, it was attributed to the daughter of one of Daimler's wealthiest patrons, who was Jewish. How ironic that Hitler being so obsessed with race never knew nor investigated where the name came from.
Daimler-Benz hand-built a car called the Grosser Mercedes W07 ("Great or Super Mercedes") in 1930 that was marketed to heads of state and the elite. Because it was large, the Grosser had a menacing appearance. How perfect for Hitler and the Nazi Party.
By 1938 Mercedes-Benz thought the car was outdated and told their engineers to expand the entire thing. The Grosser 770K (7.7-liter engine) Model 150 Offener Tourenwagon was now twenty feet long, seven feet wide, and weighed five tons. It could speed over 100 miles per hour. It was quite a beast. Inside the car was quite luxurious with leather seats that could easily hold eight passengers. There were hidden compartments for pistols. These limousines would be used primarily as Nazi propaganda. Hitler would ride standing in the front seat, unsmiling, while adoring crowds would cheer in ecstasy. These automobiles would come to symbolize wealth, power, and also death since they looked like hearses. By the time World War II was over many of these cars were destroyed. Two of them came to the United States separately and covertly. One was supposed to be Hitler's car and the other to be Hermann Goering's. Through the years different people would own and exhibit them. None of these owners had any paperwork on who exactly these cars belonged to. It didn't seem to matter until one of these cars ended up in the Canadian War Museum in 1970. Ludwig Kosche (the librarian) took it upon himself to find out whose car the museum actually had and to uncover the truth.
Author Robert Klara is a terrific writer. Previously I had read his The Hidden White House (reviewed in this blog) and while I thought that book was good, The Devil's Mercedes is even better. Who would have thought that a five-ton Mercedes-Benz could be so interesting? In lesser hands it would have been boring. Klara really knows how to tell a story. The amount of research that was done is mind-boggling. Just look at the Endnotes when you are finished reading the book. They consist of ninety-nine pages. These could easily be another book and are quite informative. If you're a history nut, a car buff, and would like to know how Americans felt when these two cars showed up on our shores, you must read The Devil's Mercedes.
Very highly recommended.